An open letter to Mayor Sullivan

By Bob Lupo

Published: 2012.10.17 10:44 PM

The primary concern of any government must always be the safety of its citizens. I’m wondering what part of that you don’t understand?

Each of your budget proposals call for the elimination of Truck 11 (which was paid for by the taxpayers in Eagle River). We also would lose nine firefighters (three from each shift) who would be transferred somewhere else. This is the only fire station in Eagle River. In addition to the local area, its service extends through Hiland Road and along Eagle River Road to the Nature Center, which is 12 miles away and only accessible by a single road. People living on those roads rely on the Eagle River fire station for emergency response. Outside assistance may be had from the Anchorage Fire Department and/or the Chugiak Volunteer Fire Department (10 and eight miles away, respectively). But if they had to respond to a location on Hiland Road or up Eagle River road, it could take them more than 30 minutes to arrive at the scene!

Evidently, whoever assisted you in putting this budget together didn’t do their homework. And to add insult to injury, while proposing to eliminate this important fire response capability, you allocate $1.5 million to Parks and Recreation! That’s not just insane, it’s criminal! We in the Eagle River area pay taxes just like the good people of Anchorage, but when it comes to equal services, it seems like all we get are the scraps. Perhaps it’s time for Eagle River to consider autonomy. We do have the capability.

P.S. — You can save the city some money by firing the budget consultants who didn’t do their homework.

— Bob Lupo

Eagle River

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